OAKLAND — The personnel strapped Oakland Police Department got a much needed transfusion this week when 10 new officers began an 18-week training academy that will have them working the streets early next year.

Another 15 are expected to be hired soon and begin training.

The department currently has 645 filled positions, down from almost 800 early last year before city budget cuts forced layoffs. The attrition rate has averaged about four officers a month. Serious crime in the city is up 6 percent this year although overall crime is down 2 percent.

The city is able to hire the 25 new officers because of a three-year, $10 million grant from the federal Department of Justice’s Office of the Community Policing Hiring program. Mayor Jean Quan lobbied hard for the grant, the largest amount given to any city. Congresswoman Barbara Lee played a major role in helping Oakland get the funds.

The 10, who began their training Monday, were among more than 100 laid off in 2010 because of city budget problems. They were in a training academy run by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, but the city paid for them to finish. Since then most of them had been working as Oakland reserve officers.

Chief Howard Jordan heartily welcomed them and complimented them on their patience, dedication and loyalty. He said they will help make the city safer.

“We need your help very soon,” he said.

Quan thanked the officers and said not only will they help make the city safer, they will also play big roles in community policing.

The grant specifies that 25 officers will be designated to patrol around the city’s middle schools. When the new officers complete their field training in 18 weeks, they will replace veteran patrol officers who will start filling the school beats.

Speaking on behalf of the new officers was Jared Blue, who started his career as a police cadet in 2008 before entering the 2010 academy.

Blue, a graduate of Oakland Technical High School, said he and the others were “excited and ready to get started” and that they hope to make a difference in the fight against crime.

Although he was “thankful” to see the new officers, Oakland Police Officers Association President Sgt. Dom Arotzarena offered words of caution.

He said public safety should be Quan’s and the city’s top priority, and with continuing attrition that he says will accelerate in the next few months, officials should do their best to develop a hiring plan to have as many officers on the streets as possible.

Harry Harris is a Pulitzer Prize winning breaking news reporter for the Bay Area News Group. He began his Oakland Tribune career in September 1965 as a 17-year-old copyboy. He became a reporter in 1972 and is considered one of the best crime and breaking news reporters in the country. He has covered tens of thousands of murders and other crimes in the East Bay. He has also mentored dozens of young reporters, some of whom continue to work in journalism today.

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